Deals and discounts for the Manchester area and also Nationwide offers - spread the word!
Most bargains are limited time one day only offers so if you see something you like don't hesitate and buy today!

We use cookies to optimise your user experience on Travelzoo. By clicking on any link in this email you are agreeing to allow this. Please read our Privacy and Cookie Policy.

Do not attempt to respond to this message. We cannot accept electronic replies to this email. Written inquiries can be sent to: Travelzoo (Europe) Ltd., Shaftesbury House, 151 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8AL.

--- By using this newsletter, you agree to the following terms and conditions:

This email contains editorial information as well as advertisements. Sales and promotions listed in this email may contain restrictions and are subject to change. For complete details, please contact the travel supplier. Sales and promotions listed in this email are offered and provided by the respective travel supplier and/or its agents, not Travelzoo Inc., Travelzoo (Europe) Ltd or any subsidiaries of Travelzoo. Unauthorised distribution or commercial use of this email is strictly prohibited. Travelzoo does not independently verify the accuracy of this information and does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness. Sales and promotions listed in this newsletter may have expired, may have changed, or may not be available anymore at the time you receive the newsletter. The information provided in this email may include inaccuracies and typographical errors. Travelzoo Inc., Travelzoo (Europe) Ltd, and its subsidiaries and affiliates are not liable for any claims of damages, loss or injury to persons or property arising out of this newsletter.

To ensure the Travelzoo Top 20(R) makes it into your inbox, please add "top20ukdeals@email.travelzoo.com" to your address book or "travelzoo.com" to your "safe senders" list.

You are currently subscribed to receive the Top 20 email at bargainbibleblog.deals@blogger.com You can modify your email options or unsubscribe at any time at http://www.travelzoo.com/uk/profiles/?ib=UW1D2e1. We use cookies to optimise your user experience on Travelzoo. By clicking on any link in this email you are agreeing to allow this. Please read our Privacy and Cookie Policy. Please do not attempt to respond to this message. We cannot accept electronic replies to this email. Written inquiries can be sent to: Travelzoo (Europe) Ltd., Shaftesbury House, 151 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8AL. Copyright (c) 2015 Travelzoo (Europe) Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

Now HSBC's hitting the headlines for moral failings, following Barclays', Lloyds' & others' past misdemeanours. My ears regularly burn with people growling about their bank, yet last year only 1 in 50 people punished theirs by leaving...

If your bank's a b*****d, don't whinge - switch.

And thankfully if you do it right now, other banks are salivating for business, pushing out lucrative perks for switchers. Here are the 10 need-to-knows...

1.

Seven-day switching means it's mostly no hassle. Seven-day switching is now over a year old. Within seven working days your new bank will...

- Switch your direct debits and standing orders for you. - Close your old account & make sure any payments to it are forwarded to the new one.

Yesterday I did a snap poll on my Facebook page. Of 220 who'd switched since seven-day switching began, 82% found it "easy and hassle free", eg, Emma said: "Natwest to First Direct, fantastic. I couldn't have asked for it to be easier." Only 4% of people had problems. See poll results.

What counts as switching to get the perks? For many of the accounts below, to get the perk you need to not just open it but switch. Full account-by-account info in top bank accounts, but in short...

a) You need to pass a credit check, though they're not normally too harsh. b) Most require a 'min monthly deposit'. In reality it's just how they ensure you pay your income in there. A £500/mth pay in = £6,000/yr salary. c) Many require you to have a couple of direct debits set up.

2.

Get paid £150 to switch. Some banks want you to switch so much they pay you, and this bribe is almost always tax-free. Here they are in size order.

Top banks for savings interest: get up to 5%. Instead of cash bribes, other banks try to suck in customers by paying them loss-leading interest rates on savings (which are taxed like normal savings) to keep them with the bank.

- For bigger savers, 3% interest + 3% cashback: Santander 123* is the only one which pays strong rates on a decent whack. You get 3% AER variable interest if you've £3,000 to £20,000 in it - more than double the best buy normal easy access savings account.

It has a £2/mth fee but for most that's more than covered as it also pays cashback on direct debits paid from the account. You get 3% back on mobile, phone & b'band, 2% on energy and 1% on water, council tax and Santander mortgage payments. As Hannah tweeted: "£260 cashback yearly. Mortgage, broadband, phones, TV, utilities. £504 since opened account."

If you've less and the cashback isn't for you then:

- Earn 4% on £4,000-£5,000:Club Lloyds* pays 4% AER variable. - Earn 5% on up to £2,000:TSB* pays 5% AER variable. - Get £5 each month you stay in credit (+£125):Halifax Reward* pays this regardless how much you've got. As it's after basic tax it beats TSB for most averaging under £1,500 in their account even before the £125. - Want to save monthly not a lump sum? Two 'free cash' bank accounts - First Direct* (free £100) and M&S* (free £125 M&S gift card) - also have linked 6% regular savers where you can save up to £300 and £250/mth. You can open more than one to save large sums? But it can be tricky. For all top bank savings and help combining them, see 5% savings loophole.

4.

Which pays more - free cash or bank savings interest? As a rough rule of thumb, if you've got £10,000+ Santander 123* always wins. Below that, it's close - to work out which wins, we need to get a little nerdy...

a) How often will you switch? You could switch annually (or more often) to keep bagging free £100s. To earn more in bank savings needs £3,000+. Yet if you just want one account to stick with, as savings pay each year, it wins. b) Where'd you save it otherwise? The top savings accounts pay 1.4% AER so you can earn that without switching bank. So if bank savings pay, for example, 3%, then the gain from choosing it as your bank is just 1.6%.

c) Tax. The free cash for switching is tax-free, but interest is taxed like income tax, eg, at basic rate you lose 20% of it (higher rate 40%). So £100 free cash is £100, but £100 interest is £80 (£60 at higher rate).

As you can see there are a lot of variables, but in a nutshell, if you don't want to regularly switch and have above say £4,000 then the high interest current account wins. PS: Also read my Santander 123 v cash ISA analysis.

5.

The MSE gold medal for bank service. As we interact daily with our bank accounts, service counts. Our latest six-monthly poll closed yesterday. How much you value service over the pure cash perks above is up to you.

The gold medallist, yet again, is First Direct*, which (as above) pays £100 to switch to it, has an 0% overdraft up to £250, and a 6% linked regular saver.

11,935 votes. (a) Ranked via 2 pts for great, 1 for OK, 0 for poor. Excludes banks with sub-100 votes. See full results. (b) Split out for a more accurate rating. Accounts that are best-buys elsewhere in these 10 need-to-knows are linked.

6.

How to cut overdraft charges to 0%. An overdraft's a debt like any other, so if you often go into the red, cutting its cost makes it easier to clear.

- Switch to 0% overdraft.First Direct* has a £250 0% overdraft and you can put the £100 it pays switchers towards it too. Nationwide's FlexDirect* may give a bigger 0% overdraft, credit score depending, but only for a year (it's 50p/day after so try to clear by then). Eligibility info: Top 0% overdrafts.

- Shift it to a 0% credit card. A few cards let newbies 0% money transfer - ie, pay cash into a bank so you can pay off the overdraft and owe the card instead. Fluid* is 29mths 0% for a one-off 4% fee, MBNA* is 24mths but with half the fee (1.94%). Our Eligibility Calc shows your acceptance odds.

Follow the golden rules, though. (i) You must ask for a 'money transfer' to do this, don't just withdraw cash. (ii) Never miss a min monthly repayment or you can lose the 0% deal. (iii) Ensure you repay before the 0% ends or they jump to 22.9% rep APR. Full help in our Money Transfers guide.

7.

Free travel insurance bank accounts. The Nationwide FlexAccount* is fee-free and includes Europe travel insurance for the account holder(s) up to age 74, (which is when travel insurance gets expensive). You can upgrade to world cover for £40. Full eligibility info and more options in Best Bank Accounts or see Cheap Travel Insurance to compare.

Or pay £10/mth and the Nationwide FlexPlus* gives worldwide family travel insurance, plus smartphone insurance for all the family (kids must live at home) and European breakdown cover. A family needing 'em all could pay £600/yr separately. See Top Packaged Accounts for more options.

As with all travel policies, disclose pre-existing conditions.

8.

Fed up with banks? Want something different? Here, we factor in both perks and the rating given by Ethical Consumer, which evaluates behaviour on the environment, human & animal rights, politics and investments.

Here two building societies do well - Nationwide*, its deals I've already featured (see point 7); and Norwich & Peterborough*, its debit card allows cheap spending abroad.

Or for a real change, use a credit union. These are local savings and loan non-profit co-operatives. But while there are about 500 credit unions, not all offer current accounts, so check yours.

9.

Can't get a bank account? There is a way. Sadly more than million people in the UK are unbanked. Yet as long as you've ID you should be able to get an account, though you need to ask the right way. See our full Basic Bank Accounts guide for step-by-step help.

10.

Couples can do it better together... And finally, as most bank accounts need a minimum pay-in to get it, if you're a couple living together in a trusting relationship, you can max the gain by working together.

For example, one of you could get a Santander 123* current account, using it for savings and getting cashback on bills. The other could get, say, Halifax Reward* to get the free £125 and £5 each month.

PS: Changing bank doesn't stop you reclaiming for mis-selling. You can still ditch, switch, then reclaim if you were mis-sold. Full help and free template letters in our Reclaim Packaged Bank Account Fees & Bank Charges Reclaiming guides (avoiding bank charges in the first place is even better though).

One in 30 children will lose a parent before they grow up - I know as I (Martin) was one of them. Sadly, the grief and misery are often compounded by the loss of an income causing a financial crisis. So like making a will, facing this risk is one of those 'deep breath' moments of parenthood. To help we've fully updated our cheap life insurance guide, in short...

It can be easy & cheap. The simple option's level term life insurance, which pays a set amount, eg, £200,000, if you die within a fixed term, eg, 18 years. As there's usually little argument about whether someone is dead, provided the insurer's reputable, the cheaper the better. Don't confuse this with mortgage life insurance or other life insurance.

How to smash insurer & comparison site prices. Buy from a comparison site and it'll find your cheapest policy, but it gets a huge whack of commission. But you can't cut costs by buying direct from the bank or insurer, they're often at the same price and keep the commission themselves.

The trick is to use a top discount broker - these give a comparison without advice and for a £25 fee they rebate the commission to you, hugely cutting what you pay each month. The impact is huge. We got quotes on the same day for a 45-yr old smoker getting 25-year level term cover for £200,000 (younger, non-smokers pay far less). - FROM BANK: This cost was quoted as £76/mth, so £22,800 over 25 yrs. - VIA COMPARISON SITE: The quote we got was £49/mth, so £14,700 over 25 yrs.- VIA DISCOUNT BROKER: Here the quote was £44/mth, so £13,225 over 25 yrs incl the £25 fee.

Five level term life insurance need-to-knows1.Confused or unsure what you're doing? Forget the cheapest, get independent advice from an advisory broker.2. How much to cover? The rough rule is 10x the main breadwinner's income until kids finish full-time education. See full how much to cover info (& check you don't already have an employer's 'death-in-service' cover).3. Is inheritance tax likely? If you've big assets, putting life insurance in trust means it's not liable for it.4. Declare pre-existing conditions. Don't lie or hide anything, it could mean the policy isn't valid. 5. Already got a policy & quit smoking? Get a new quote. If you stopped at least a year ago costs could be halved.

Sadly, those on prepayment meters usually pay more than those on billed meters, and have less choice. That doesn't mean there's nowt you can do - it's still worth taking five mins to do a comparison on the Cheap Energy Club. As Kate tweeted Martin: "Didn't think I could switch as on prepay meter but switched this AM saving £140 a year plus cashback."

Based on Ofgem typical usage, varies by region. Source: MoneySupermarket.com. (1) Plus 1,500 E.on points which can be exchanged for up to £60 Tesco rewards.

Speedily compare your tariff. No spiel - switching prepay tariffs isn't as lucrative as for others, yet many can save. The Cheap Energy Club lets you compare & gives £30 dual fuel (£15 elec only) cashback if you switch. It monitors the tariff after in case rates rise, and emails if you need to switch again.

There are prepay fixes. As your comparison will show, finally there's a bit more choice for those on prepay. Fixes let you lock in at a set rate, ensuring no price hikes (the two in the table last till spring, 17). Though of course use more & you pay more. And if things change, these two let you leave when you want without any early exit penalties.

Can I switch if I owe my supplier? Yes, if it's under £500 per fuel (many are switched to prepay due to debts).

Would I save switching to a billed meter? This is what most people have, where usage is measured, and you're billed after. While some prefer prepay for budgeting, pay a billed meter by direct debit on the cheapest tariff, and on the usage in the table you could pay nearer £900 a year, not £1,200. Not everyone's allowed to change though, and some suppliers charge for changing - to investigate read our Shift To A Billed Meter help.

There are many work at home scams out there. Truth is, outside conventional work, there are few ways that really pay. Yet we do have 30 (legit) ways to earn cash online in our guide - though think a wee income boost, not a proper wage.

- Get paid to Google. A browser add-on pays £5ish/mth to click ads when you search. - Give your views. Dedicated survey-fillers can make £800/yr with our Top 20 Survey Sites. - Write copy. Web content brokers pay £5-£30 per piece, eg, ads & travel descriptions. - Check shops' prices. Free app Field Agent pays up to £10/job to check prices/snap photos. - Pen product reviews.DooYoo pays up to 60p/review - rate anything from TVs to toasters. - £25ish/mth to watch vids & play games. Swagbucks pay for ads/market research, and you get a cut - plus sign up by Fri for £10 worth of M&S/Amazon vouchers once you accrue £5.- Make watchable video clips. Upload home-made YouTube clips and get a cut of ad revenues. Forumite Sophie Christie says: "I made £6,375 last year - and used my earnings to help buy a car." Read her full story. - Get paid to scan shopping receipts. Earn up to £10/mth in vouchers. It's invite only but - join a waiting list. ShopandScan

Success of the week: (Send us yours on this or any topic)"After hearing Martin on TV every week (and basically ignoring him), this morning I kicked myself up the butt and I have saved £268/year moving from British Gas." Give yourself a kick up the butt too. Use Cheap Energy Club to compare and see if you can save on gas and electricity.

Discussion of the week

Forumites typically pay from 99p to a fiver for a pint in their local areas. We'd love to find out how much a pint costs in your neck of the woods. Can you get one with your spare change or do you find yourself having to resort to large notes to cover the cost? Tell us how much a pint is in your local.

Question of the week

Q. I fixed my mortgage at 2.79% for five years a couple of years ago thinking rates would have risen in that time. I could have fixed for two years at less than 2%. But rates haven't risen. In fact, they're much lower. Did I make a mistake? Philip, via email

MSE Helen's A: When you decided to fix your rate, you made the best decision you could with the information available to you at the time. You, and indeed many economists, expected interest rates to rise in that time.

It may have been cheaper for you to fix at a lower rate for a shorter period, and then perhaps take out another fix now as rates are lower.

But this doesn't mean that you made the wrong decision. You wanted to ensure you wouldn't pay any more in interest if rates did rise, and you got that certainty with the deal you went for, even though the outcome wasn't what you wanted. Martin's penned his thoughts on this very issue, telling you why you shouldn't look back in anger...

And remember, even if you had chosen differently, there's no surety you'd have qualified for a rock-bottom rate now - particularly if your credit score or circumstances have changed, as banks have significantly tightened their lending criteria since you took out your original deal.

That's it for this week, but before we go check out this super collection of anagrams from forumite Gunte. If you're stumped, highlight the space to the right of each word and you'll see the answer.

We hope you save some money,

Martin & the MSE team

Important. Please read how MoneySavingExpert.com works

We think it's important you understand the strengths and limitations of this email and the site. We're a journalistic website, and aim to provide the best MoneySaving guides, tips, tools and techniques - but can't promise to be perfect, so do note you use the information at your own risk and we can't accept liability if things go wrong. What you need to know

This info does not constitute financial advice, always do your own research on top to ensure it's right for your specific circumstances - and remember we focus on rates not service.

We don't as a general policy investigate the solvency of companies mentioned, how likely they are to go bust, but there is a risk any company can struggle and it's rarely made public until it's too late (see the section 75 guide for protection tips).

We often link to other websites, but we can't be responsible for their content.

Always remember anyone can post on the MSE forums, so it can be very different from our opinion.

Founded in February 2003, it's now the UK's biggest consumer help website with more than 10 million people getting this email and about 13 million using the site every month. In September 2012 it became part of the MoneySupermarket Group PLC. Its focus is simple: saving cash and fighting for financial justice on anything and everything. The site has over 80 full time staff, more than a third of whom are editorial – researching, analysing and writing to continually find ways to save money. More info: See About MSE

Who is Martin Lewis?

Martin set up and runs MSE, and still writes this email each week (unless it says so). He's an ultra-focused money-saving journalist and consumer campaigner with his own ITV prime-time show The Martin Lewis Money Show and weekly slots on Radio 5 Live, This Morning and Good Morning Britain, among others. He’s a columnist for publications including the Telegraph and Woman magazine. More info: See Martin Lewis' biography

What do the links with a * mean?

Any links with a * by them are affiliated, which means get a product via this link and a contribution may be made to MoneySavingExpert.com, which helps it stay free to use. You shouldn't notice any difference; the links don't impact the product at all and the editorial line (the things we write) isn't changed due to it. If it isn't possible to get an affiliate link for the best product, it's still included in the same way. More info: See how this site is financed.

As we believe transparency is important, we're including the following 'un-affiliated' web-addresses for content too: Unaffiliated web-addresses for links in this email

Referring people to insurers or insurance intermediaries can in some circumstances constitute an FCA regulated activity. For this reason, pages with links which take you to the sites of insurers or insurance intermediaries are hosted by MoneySavingExpert.com Limited on behalf of MoneySupermarket.com Group PLC. MoneySupermarket.com Financial Group Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 303190). The registered office address of both MoneySupermarket.com Group PLC and MoneySupermarket.com Financial Group Limited is MoneySupermarket House, St. David’s Park, Ewloe, Chester, CH5 3UZ.